Best Summer Music Concerts, Tours, and Festivals

Ah, the summer concert season—when bands reunite, festivals coalesce around open spaces, and patrons are enticed to cool off by spending far too much money on beer. While the Summer of Shows 2010 has already seen a couple of casualties—U2’s global jaunt was sidelined by Bono’s bad back, while Christina Aguilera’s tour in support of her new album Bionic had its plug pulled for vague rehearsal-related reasons—there are still quite a few shows worth your while, both local and in far-flung locales. Grab your earplugs and let’s head out to the sheds.

Click the Image for a Guide to the Best Concerts of the Summer

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Maura Johnston is a writer and editor living in New York City. She has written for the Village Voice, Vanity Fair, The Awl, and Gawker, and she frequently contributes to NPR. Follow her on Twitter.